CO' 



THE COMPLETE ANGLEK. 



[PART I. 



liave made fish the mistress of all their entertainments; 

 they have had music to usher in their sturgeons, lampreys, 

 and mullets, which they would purchase at rates, rather to 

 be wondered at than believed. He that shall view the 

 writings of Macrobius 1 or Varro, 2 may be confirmed and 

 informed of this, and of the incredible value of their fish and 

 fish-ponds. 



But, gentlemen, I have almost lost myself, which I confess 

 I may easily do in this philosophical discourse ; I met with 



most of it very lately, and, 

 I hope, happily, in a confer- 

 ence with a most learned 

 physician, Dr. Wharton, 3 a 

 dear friend, that loves both 

 me and my art of angling. 

 But, however, I will wade 

 no deeper in these myste- 

 rious arguments, but pass 

 to such observations as I 

 can manage with more plea- 

 sure, and less fear of running 

 into error. But I must not 

 yet forsake the waters, by 

 whose help we have so many 



Dr. Thomas Wharton. advantages. 



And, first, to pass by the 

 miraculous cures of our known baths, how advantageous is 



1 Aurelius Macrobius, a learned writer of the fourth century ; he was 

 chamberlain to the Emperor Theodosius. Fabricius makes it a question 

 whether he was a Christian or a pagan. His works are, " A Commentary 

 on the Somnium Scipionis of Cicero," in two books; and "Saturnalia 

 Convivia," in seven, a gossiping collection of Scraps, supposed to be the 

 substance of a conversation which took place among some learned men 

 dxiring the Saturnalian Festival. Besides these, he was the author of 

 many which are lost. Walton quotes Macrobius through Hakewill's 

 Apology, lib. iv. sect. 6, p. 434. ED. 



2 Marcus Terentius Varro, a most learned Roman, contemporary with 

 Cicero, and author, as it is said, of nearly five hundred volumes. He is one 

 of the best writers on agriculture. H. The passage here quoted will be 

 found in his De Re Rusticd, lib. iii., cap. 17. ED. 



3 Dr. Thomas Wharton (whose name is first introduced in the fifth 

 edition), was an eminent physician and anatomist, and Grresham professor 



